Whether it’s phishing scams, fake job postings, phony calls from family asking for money, or fake requests from large organizations aiming to trick you into revealing credit card or banking information, learning how to protect yourself is vital.

Critical thinking can be your best defense.

Stay informed

“The best mindset these days is one of skepticism,” says David Treble, Manager of Information Security and Compliance with IST.

In his job he comes upon many different scams that people may encounter at work or at home.

They usually take place through email or a phone call. Most of us are familiar with scams that try to trick us into giving up our passwords, but more recently MFA (Multi Factor Authentication) codes are also being targeted, he says.

“We have also seen a rise in fake job postings which typically lead to a phony job offer,” says Treble. “Then the scammer will ask the ‘new employee’ to cash a cheque or transfer money to a third party and the check will bounce.”

Another type of popular fraud is called a “business email compromise”. These scams involve “phony invoices the scammer hopes will be paid, fake emails from a boss or superior asking to purchase gift cards and attempts by bad actors to change payroll deposit information to a different bank account,” he says.

People can be targeted with these scams in their personal lives too.

These variations include phony calls from family or grandchildren asking for money, fake requests from large organizations like Revenue Canada, PayPal, or Amazon, or fake notifications of a fine from law enforcement. Then there are the fake requests for payment for a package delivery from Canada Post or other courier services.

Scammers rely on several factors when working:

• People are naturally trusting,
• People want to help others or not get in trouble with law enforcement or their boss,
• If something sounds urgent, people don’t want to miss out, or lose access to accounts.

“All these things are expected by scammers and they tailor their tactics to prey on these traits,” says Treble.

In the end, it’s a numbers game, and scammers rely on coincidence.

Take a supposed text from Canada Post about payment for a package, as an example. “Thousands of packages are mailed each day, and the scammers know that if they contact 10,000 people there are going to be dozens who had just mailed something and will think the text is real,” says Treble. “Scammers only need to be right once to win.”

Look out for red flags

Treble recommends treating any requests for payment or financial transactions that come through email, phone call or text message as suspicious, until you verify it by contacting the organization through a known number listed on their website or other legitimate correspondence you have.

“Do not call the phone number that is provided to you through that first contact,” he says. “A scammer will just provide you a fake number that is part of the scam.”

“If it is someone claiming to be a friend or family member, consider calling another family member, call that person back on a number you know is their own, and ignore the caller’s plea for urgency, secrecy or pressure to do something quickly,” he says.

“Especially if they tell you that this is a secret, or they try to tell you they are embarrassed and don’t want anyone to know, these are all red flags that the call may be a scam.”

Treble also says that calls from your bank, Revenue Canada or the police should be verified first. “It may sound extreme, but everyone receives constant scam calls or texts regularly, so let unknown numbers go to voice mail. Even if it is a number you recognize, be cautious as call display numbers can be forged.”

Keeping information secure

Judy Dandurand, Access and Privacy Officer, says that treating information appropriately has a significant role to play in keeping data secure too.

“Employees should only have access to information that is required to do their jobs,” she says. “Open access to information poses a significant security risk.”

It’s also important to know what information you have in your unit, as “many privacy breaches are a result of employees not knowing what information they are responsible for in their holdings,” says Dandurand. She also says to only keep information for as long as there is a legitimate business need. The Access and Privacy Office can help provide guidelines on how long to store information.

Even how you share your documents at work can have an impact on security. “When emailing confidential documents, consider sending via a link to OneDrive. This will strengthen your security as only individuals who have permission to open a document can,” says Dandurand.

If your work is in the realm of research, Noël Galuschik from the Office of Research Security, has some additional tips.

In her role as Research Officer, Cannabis and Research Security, she says it’s important for researchers to consider the following:

• Who has access?
• What do they have access to?
• How long do they have access to it?

“I encourage everyone (PIs to summer students) to have a baseline level of cybersecurity awareness. The Government of Canada has a short course titled Cyber Security for Researchers available to anyone to take,” says Galuschik. “Encrypting computers, laptops and storage solutions are great ways to keep data secure and minimize risks.”

If researchers have questions, the Office of Research Security Intranet page and the IST Information Security and Compliance site provide further information.

Social media and data security

Dandurand says she often sees behaviours that people do in their personal lives that raise concerns about privacy, and therefore security.

People often share too much information on social media, she says, without recognizing the potential consequences.

“Less is best! Limit the information you provide on social media sites – you never know how others will use that information,” she says.

“Sharing sensitive information of friends, family or especially children with no thought to how it may impact them,” is not advised says Dandurand. “Your information may result in another person’s privacy being breached or you may be targeted and exploited by criminals for a fraudulent purpose.”

“Check your privacy settings on social media platforms and web browsers to control how and with whom your information is being shared.”

She also recommends caution when doing online or social media quizzes. “Don’t share the name of your first-grade teacher, your first pet, your first car on any Facebook survey or contest. These questions are commonly used to change forgotten passwords.”

Quick tips for digital security

So, what can you do to protect yourself?

• Treat requests for account, financial or personal information with extreme caution.
• Create unique and complex passwords for different accounts.
• Be careful with what you share on social media or with strangers.
• Check your bank statements and PayPal accounts regularly for suspicious charges.
• Review recent logins monthly if your account has that feature.
• Use Multi-Factor Authentication if it is available.
• Stay informed on common scams.
• Check your privacy settings regularly to ensure you know what information is being collected and who it may be shared with.
• Don’t be afraid to ask why personal information is being requested and how it will be used.

In addition to information from IST and the Access and Privacy Office, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and the Insurance Bureau of Canada have excellent resources for learning more about how to stay safe. The federal government’s Get Cyber Safe public awareness campaign also has tips on protecting yourself online.

The university is currently making ongoing efforts in support of its digital strategy and this article highlights how everyone has a role to play in digital security. Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice.   

Additionally, the Accessibility for Manitobans Act Information and Communication standard comes into force on May 1, and focuses on ensuring barrier-free communication and access to information digitally, in print or through interaction with technology or people. 

That’s why UM is committed to accessibility not only in its physical spaces, but also in its digital spaces.  

“People with disabilities are part of our community,” says Tina Chen, vice-provost (equity). “To counter ableism, we need to always assume people with disabilities are present. Universal and accessible design starts from this principle.” 

Chen continues “Universal and accessible design benefit us all right now – including providing for different preferred learning and work styles – while recognizing that people’s needs change over time and that, as disability activists such as Sherri Torjman remind us, the experience of disability is intrinsic to the human condition.” 

Designing for everyone 

“Accessibility aims to create an equal experience for all users of a website or tool,” says Lonnie Smetana, architecture practice lead in IST planning and governance and a member of the web accessibility project team. 

“Designing for people with varying levels of abilities results in designs that benefit people universally,” he says. “There are hidden audiences for features that would initially seem to be for a specific group of people only. An example is someone who has English as an additional language. They might use captions on a video to help them understand the content and improve their language skills.” 

“Accessibility means that people using a website or digital tool are empowered to accomplish tasks independently and will not be frustrated by barriers of a poorly designed or implemented system,” says Smetana.
 

Centering the user experience 

Sarah Kroeker, accessibility coordinator in Student Accessibility Services, agrees.

She cautions to avoid thinking about digital accessibility as only about hearing or seeing content through assistive technologies like closed captioning, described video, or compatibility with screen-reading software – although these are important starting points.

“Accessibility in digital spaces is largely about the user experience and logical paths to essential information,” she says.  

Kroeker gives the example of accessibility in a physical space to help illustrate: 

“Imagine a building that has multiple floors and an individual needs to get to the top floor. There are stairs and elevators, so this building is technically accessible. However, the stairs and elevators terminate on each floor; the rider must exit and change stairwells or elevators to continue going to the top. This is an obvious flaw in design and creates many opportunities for getting lost, stuck, or giving up completely,” she says. “This can be a problem when designing digital tools without thinking about diverse users.”

“When accessibility is effective, students and other end users find the information they are looking for and can act on their own terms,” continues Kroeker. 

However, she cautions that not everyone has access to digital technology.  

“Having digital access is a privilege that can be out of reach for many people, even university students,” says Kroeker. 

“Information must still be available in analogue formats or through face-to-face interactions. For example, having only QR codes at transit stops means that people without cellphones or access to data plans do not have reliable transit data when they are waiting for a ride.” 

Universal design for learning 

Johnathan Bevan is an educational developer at the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. One of his roles is researching and helping faculty and instructors implement universal design for learning, a design philosophy that aims to reduce barriers so all learners can engage in meaningful learning.  

“There can be a temptation to make an accessibility checklist and try and paint all access concerns with a broad brush,” he says. “It needs to be understood that accessibility and accessible design are relational acts. They cannot be meaningfully enacted without the input of those experiencing the barriers.” 

“Universal Design for Learning is an infinite game. There is no destination where we will arrive and say “ah, yes. Everything is accessible now,” continues Bevan. “Universal design for learning is a process in which we must actively engage, to the best of our abilities, in every space we operate within.” 

Bevan facilitates the Accessible Course Design Coaching program and says the program is a good start for anyone not sure where to begin.

“Making efforts to design digital environments is essential. This is a moral imperative as well as legally required as of May 1, 2024,” says Bevan.  

“We should also be exploring who is visiting these spaces and who is being excluded. We should ask ourselves how we can better design our digital environments to be inclusive and inviting of a wider range of people.”
 

Accessibility features in digital tools 

Rob Wiebe, IT learning coordinator in IST, runs training sessions on the accessibility tools available in Microsoft and Adobe Acrobat. He says accessibility is important because it ensures everyone has equal access to information, regardless of their abilities and helps us reach a wider audience. 

It is easier to start with accessibility in mind than to remediate a document, he says.

“Accessibility tools in Microsoft and Adobe will help you identify some, but not all of the accessibility issues in a document. It is important to have a basic understanding of the components that make a document inaccessible,” says Wiebe, who notes you can sign up for courses through the Learning and Organizational Development registration site, by searching for the term “accessibility” to find the sessions.  

“Incorporating accessibility can benefit everyone, not just one audience, because it forces us to give more consideration to crafting a well-structured and easy-to-use document.” 

Smetana sums up the conversation on accessibility well. “Accessibility should not be viewed as a one-time effort to reach compliance with legislation. An important aspect of this project is to increase awareness of the different ways that people use our websites and services. With increased awareness, we can do a better job of accommodating the full range of abilities that people actually have.” 

Find more information on accessibility training as well as additional resources on the Accessibility Hub on the Intranet.

The university is currently making ongoing efforts in support of its digital strategy and this article highlights how accessibility in digital technology is improving our practices. Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice.   

And a popular video game technology may provide the key to a realistic experience. 

“There is some literature describing how virtual reality (VR) is being used in the training of K-12 teachers, and that got me thinking about how we could support faculty in developing skills for teaching that are often difficult to practice until you get into the situation in your class,” says Brenda M. Stoesz, research lead for the science of teaching and learning. 

Stoesz is spearheading the development of an educator training program that uses VR to prepare instructors for challenging situations in different teaching and learning scenarios.  

“We want to give instructors an opportunity to practice what to do in a virtual reality space that doesn’t have any consequences, but still feels quite real and allows them to feel the stress response,” says Stoesz, “but then also practice doing it enough times that the stress response might be decreased so they can handle these situations in a better way.” 

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning currently facilitates workshops on what to do in various teaching and learning situations, but Stoesz is aiming to give faculty members an opportunity to practice these soft (or people) skills in a more realistic way. 

But how realistic is it? 

“Even if one thinks that VR is just for gaming and that the environment might feel a bit cartoony at times, it’s quite surprising… once you put on that headset you start to feel like you’re in a different place. Even though it’s not real, you do get the sensation of being immersed in an environment, and you slowly start to really interact with the environment like it is real.” 

Realtime Feedback 

While Stoesz says they already offer some practice-based workshops, the benefit of VR is that it allows one to practice using soft skills in these scenarios that unfold in real time and then to receive judgement-free feedback immediately after the scenario has played out. Scenarios can also be repeated until a skill has been mastered.  

“The biggest benefit is that feeling of being immersed to actually practice and then to get that real time feedback so that one can change their approach in order to get better at handling a situation when it arises.” 

Stoesz notes that the VR program leverages generative artificial intelligence to enhance the experience.  

While role-playing is another excellent way to practice soft skills, in a workshop setting, some people may feel self-conscious or anxious, says Stoesz, which can limit the effectiveness of soft skills training. 

“With the VR program we hope that some of that self-consciousness can be reduced, and that people can truly practice the way that they would practice in the real-world setting, without feeling the judgement from a human around them,” she says. 

Collaborative approach 

The first module the team is working on is about effective communication skills, specifically how to communicate with students in ways that are beneficial to both parties. Future modules will include negotiation and conflict management, and microaggressions in the teaching and learning context.  

Stoesz says she was inspired by the work done in the College of Nursing around VR and wanted to see how it could be incorporated into the training opportunities that are offered for faculty.   

The approach to developing these training modules has been, and will continue to be, collaborative. 

A wide variety of stakeholders from across the university have provided their perspectives on the training module, including representatives from Student Advocacy, Student Engagement and Success, the Faculty of Education, the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management and the Department of Computer Science. Stoesz adds that having different perspectives from across the university strengthens the project.  

Feedback from participants will also inform the development of additional VR modules for UM faculty. 

At its core this is a professional development program for educators, but Stoesz’s team will also be gathering evidence to see that the program is engaging, increases confidence in teaching, and improves learning experiences for students. 

“A research program exploring the impact of postsecondary educator VR training — and sharing the findings with faculty who are in a dual role of researcher and educator — is important, so that they can see that we are making sure we are providing an evidence-based professional development program,” says Stoesz. 

Information about the pilot VR Professional Development Program will be shared with the University of Manitoba community in February 2024 through The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. 

The university is currently making ongoing efforts in support of its digital strategy and this article highlights how digital technology is improving our practices. Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice. 

Nicole Harder, associate professor in nursing and the Mindermar Professor in Human Simulation for the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, says one of the newer opportunities in simulation education is virtual reality, which provides opportunities to teach things like prioritization, problem solving and clinical decision-making skills.  

“We have a whole suite of learning opportunities, or simulation modalities, and it’s just about which is the right one for the skill that we’re trying to teach,” says Harder.  

An added benefit is that students don’t need to be in the same physical space to have the same learning outcome.  

Enhancing learning outcomes 

“We have two satellite sites at University College of the North, so Thompson and The Pas, and we’ve just worked with them to get virtual reality going for them,” says Harder. “So now we’re going to be able to put students from the Fort Garry site and the University College of the North sites in the same virtual reality room to work on a clinical case together, which previously we weren’t able to do.”  

The software allows up to four people to engage using headsets and upwards of 20 people as observers. People can log in from anywhere and watch what’s happening in a simulated emergency room, dentist’s office, or wherever the simulation has been designed to occur.  

“There are questions and learning objectives for the observers, so they are not observing just for the sake of watching,” explains Harder. “Then we debrief it all together to see how we’ve been able to achieve our learning outcomes.” 

Lawrence Gillman, associate professor in the Max Rady College of Medicine, is the director of the Clinical Learning and Simulation Program on the Bannatyne campus. 

He says VR is great for teaching how to deal with critical conversations and stressful situations. 

“When we do a medical emergency simulation, the focus is on the teamwork and the collaborative, non-technical skills – your leadership skills and your communication skills,” says Gillman. “The actual medical part of it is less important than the reality of just working together in a team and creating a stressful environment. That lends itself really well to VR because the look of things can be more realistic.” 

Not only is VR useful for teaching stressful situations, it can also be used to expand knowledge about diagnostic tools like ultrasounds.  

One of the issues with ultrasound is that it takes 3D anatomy and turns it into a 2D representation on a screen. It can then be hard to visualize how that 2D image corresponds to the structures in the body. 

“By seeing it in VR,” says Gillman, “you can show students what they’re actually seeing on a human body, on the model, and then show them the ultrasound image and they can put those two things together.” 

Gillman is also exploring opportunities to use VR as a surgical planning tool. He recently met with an anatomy company that can load CT scans into virtual reality and map out tumours and their relationships to important structures in a virtual space. 

“We’re talking to our cancer surgeons about whether this is something that would be of interest to them because it gives you another way of visualizing the involved structures in 3D space,” says Gillman.  

“The beauty of VR is we have the hardware, which works with multiple software platforms, so you can use it for multiple indications,” says Gillman. “Now we’re trying to figure out what those options are and who would be interested in them.” 

Interprofessional collaboration

Harder and Gillman are part of a community of practice in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences that is looking at expanding virtual reality into all the colleges: medicine, rehabilitation sciences, dentistry and pharmacy. 

“We have a project where we are going to be creating interprofessional simulations for all of the Rady disciplines,” Harder explains.  

“Here at the College of Nursing, we have a fairly robust VR program already. On Bannatyne they have a different structure,” she says. “We’re going to be creating a virtual reality ‘menu’ for the other colleges on Bannatyne and we are going to create a few that we think would work for all disciplines. 

“And then in early spring, we want to have a bit of a technology fair or a ‘show and tell’ to demonstrate all the different ways you can use both virtual reality, as well as artificial intelligence, in interprofessional and intra-professional learning situations,” says Harder.  

Learning together

Both Gillman and Harder are looking for partners in health sciences to explore how VR can be used in their programs. They are also interested in connecting with others in the university who are interested in VR.     

Harder says having clear learning outcomes is essential if VR is to be a meaningful addition to an educational program.    

“It has to be purposeful,” she says. “What are your objectives, why do you want to use this? And then think about if this is the right tool to do that.”   

She recommends people interested in exploring VR reach out to someone who has experience incorporating it into their curriculum, to find out what opportunities exist. 

“Let’s connect with other people who are using VR so we’re not reinventing the wheel all the time. Let’s share our experience, expertise and evaluation.” 

The university is currently making ongoing efforts to its digital strategy and this article highlights how digital technology is improving our practices. Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice.  

They have grown up with computers, smart phones, tablets and other digital technology. Information has always been available to them at the tap of a finger, or the click of a mouse, and online purchases can be delivered the day they are ordered. 

This all shapes their expectations of a digital experience when it comes to their university education. 

“Digital experience and university experience for students go hand in hand,” says Emily Kalo, who serves as a student representative on the digital strategy and steering committee.  

 “As a student, I expect that efforts are made to ensure that digital advancements made by the university support different types of learners in their pursuit of education,” she says. 

Tanadebabari Shalom Boogbaa Lebe agrees. She’s a Faculty of Arts student majoring in art history, with a minor in religion. “As a student, my expectation is to ensure the university digital contents are user friendly and accessible to all. This would allow users to be able to select the format they wish to engage with the available content.” 

Boogbaa Lebe, who also serves on the content and communications subcommittee of the digital steering committee, says that digital tools were very important during the pandemic and transition back to campus life. “I believe the new tools that were created during the pandemic, like… Yuja, and much more are still important today as it serves as a new bridge towards the past, present and future of the University of Manitoba community.” 

Kalo, who recently completed her bachelor of science in psychology with a minor in business, says digital tools are useful during all stages of the post-secodary degree.  

“Through digital tools, students will have the opportunity to collaborate via digital platforms, engage in inquiry-based learning, and synthesize information from multiple sources. Moreover, these tools can be used by the university to establish an online presence that makes the student body feel supported, not only when they join the Bison community, but post-graduation through research and training.” 

Boogbaa Lebe finds existing digital tools useful for student success, including the UM Learn Pulse app—which keeps track of notifications and announcements about courses including grades, quizzes, assignment due dates and more—and UM Achieve—which serves as a live checklist and degree audit, and can also provide a “What-if Audit” to see what is required to switch programs if desired.  
 
However, finding the digital tools available can be a challenge, she says. “With an ever present workload from school, work and everything else, many students, staff and potential applicants are not able to fully utilize the resources.”  

She suggests developing a central hub, where students are able to access UM social media channels as well as connect to digital teaching tools like Mentimeter, Yuja, Zoom, UM Learn, UM  Achieve and more. 

Students are also looking for digital tools to provide accessibility features, says Boogbaa Lebe, including audio, sign language and short videos that explain the process for different tasks students need to complete.  

Other digital tools students may find useful include IST chat support and Librairies “Ask Us” live chat, citation managers and generators, and other digital library tools.  

The bottom line, according to both Boogbaa Lebe and Kalo, is that a strong digital strategy fosters student success for all students, during their studies and beyond. 

“Digital tools can increase student success (in navigating) through their desired field of study, whether it be a diploma, certificate, undergraduate or graduate degree,” says Boogbaa Lebe. 

“I strongly believe that through utilizing digital strategy, the University of Manitoba can meet higher standards of productivity and success,” says Kalo. “Digital strategy has the power to enable students during their time at the University of Manitoba and beyond as members of the workforce.” 

Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice. 

While our digital strategy involves technology, our focus remains decidedly human—we’re determined to improve the daily experiences of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

To make this happen, we focus on three key areas:

• Deeply understanding the people who will use our digital tools. We’re not simply digitizing existing processes—we’re reimagining them from the ground up. This involves talking to users and designing solutions that truly fit their needs.
• Smart and efficient resource management. We quickly build basic versions of our solutions that address the community’s needs, and then refine these solutions based on real-world usage and feedback. This iterative approach helps us to build better tools and get them out faster.
• Flexibility. We recognize that technology doesn’t stand still, and neither can we. We’re ready to change our plans when needed, keeping pace with new developments, all while making sure we protect your privacy and security.

Throughout our progress in these key areas, we’ve been inspired by the community’s enthusiasm. Staff, faculty and students are contributing ideas and feedback, making sure our tools are useful and user-friendly.

So far, we’ve launched a new content management system for our websites and a new Intranet site. We’ve also navigated the challenges of the pandemic, implementing digital tools that enhanced remote work, learning and student engagement.

Currently, we’re working to enhance the blocks and functionality of the website, including improving search to make it easier for users to find the information they need.

This is just the beginning of our journey.

To help guide our strategy, we’ve created a digital steering committee. It includes sub-committees focused on various aspects of university life.

Here are some opportunities our sub-committees are exploring:

Data and infrastructure

• Upgrading computing power for research.
• Enhancing communication between IST and campus.
• Making tech tools accessible for teaching and learning.

Learning, teaching, and student support:

• Improving the course registration process.
• Providing faculty with “plug-and-play” technology that works instantly in any classroom.

Content and communications

• Concentrating on user journey maps to suggest enhancements for our existing digital tools, including the websites, UM Intranet and emerging tools.
• Pinpointing areas of improvement and uncovering new opportunities to enhance communication with UM’s diverse audiences.

HR and daily work

• Introducing more automation to VIP/Employee Self-Service, which will streamline payroll tasks for staff.

In short, our digital strategy is much more than the adoption of technology—it’s a comprehensive approach to enhance UM as an innovative and supportive place to learn, teach and work.

Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice.